‘Bates Motel’ Series Premiere: Watch the First 6 Minutes Now

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has inspired three sequels, a shot-for-shot remake, Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock, and a slew of other projects, and yet there is still an appetite for more, an appetite that many hope will be satiated by A&E’s Bates Motel, which just posted 6 minutes from the premiere online.

From Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights), Bates Motel shows us Norman Bates’ formative years and the many, many ways in which his mother affected his life. Starring Freddie Highmore as Norman and Vera Farmiga as his beloved mother Norma, the show is set to begin its initial season with the first of ten episodes next Monday, but before the premiere, A&E has released the first six minutes of the pilot to further ramp up expectations.

In the video (above), we get our first real sense of the Bates family’s inner workings as Norman tearfully deals with his father’s death while Norma cooly stares on before comforting her son. She isn’t completely devoid of emotion though, and her fondness for Norman is obvious as they joke around while driving along a coastal highway toward their new home six months later.

That new home — the Seafairer Motel — is a sight to see. It looks as it should and the house on the hill is as haunting and gothic as the original.

If this clip is any indication, then it’s clear that Cuse and Ehrin know who this show is for — from the shot of the front door from atop the stairs (Milton Arbogast is going to fall down those stairs some day) and that lingering image of Mother in her window — Psycho fans will be pleased.

Fans of good dramas should also be pleased. Highmore seems perfect for his role as Norman; a perfect mix of awkwardness and edge. Like the late, great Anthony Perkins, there seems to be a bit of rage there, well hidden and under the surface. A rage that waits.

Farmiga seems equally right for her role and perfectly able to inspire that rage and drive Norman stabby. A fantastic actress, Farmiga came across as the best and most underrated part of Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, but for the first time since then, it seems like she’s found a project that knows how to best use her talents.

With all of that said, nods to Hitchcock’s indelible Psycho and the show’s impressive cast are of great importance to the prospects of Bates Motel, but the show’s tone and chemistry are more important, and it’s hard to judge those things from only six minutes of footage, even if that footage is pretty great.